Mind The Mobile Opportunity Gap Within Consumer Shopping Advertising!

Half of all time spent online is from a mobile device, and consumers also now spend 51% of their shopping time on mobile devices. This is a huge opportunity for advertisers, however, the majority are not capitalizing on that shift in buying behavior. This information comes from “The Mobile Opportunity Gap,” a white paper recently released by Yahoo and Kenshoo.

“Most advertisers are taking a PC-minded approach that’s just not working with mobile,” says Yahoo Mobile Account Executive Tom Giovingo. “The white paper makes it clear that there has to be a completely different thought process with mobile, and it shows how they can align their mobile strategies to really connect with consumers.”

According to the study, there are four consumer shopping trends across the the multi-device marketing opportunity gap:

1. Consumers are increasingly using all three screens as part of the purchase journey: While many consumers use their smartphones to visit stores’ websites and seek deals, 88% of smartphone users and 82% of tablet users admit to going back to their PC to continue the shopping process. When asked if having a paid search presence across devices makes an impact on consumer conversion activity, almost 99% of marketers surveyed agreed that it did, with 53% stating there is some influence and 46% agreeing that there is strong correlation. Only 1% thought that each device works on its own without cross-device influence.

2. The mobile web –and mobile search in particular –is primarily used for researching purchases. As mentioned previously, researching is the primary reason for mobile search in terms of shopping. However, 26% of smartphone users (plus 35% of tablet users) say that they do more shopping overall because of these devices. Despite these increases in shopping and browsing, brands have not yet figured out how to successfully “seal the deal” with consumers on the mobile web. For example, during the 2013 holiday shopping season, retailers allocated 34% of their paid search dollars to mobile devices, but only 4% of revenues came from smartphones.

Now is the time for marketers to figure out just how to “seal the deal” on mobile devices, as consumers plan to use their mobile devices even more in the future to make purchases. In the future, 33% of consumers plan to use their smartphones to research and shop, and nearly half plan to use tablets to do the same.

3. Shopping information accessed via the mobile web helps consumers validate their purchase decisions. With 84% using a mobile device for shopping at home and 75% of mobile shoppers conducting additional research at home after visiting a store, it is imperative that advertisers take advantage of retargeting across devices. Advertisers know how much influence that mobile devices are having on in-store shoppers but need to figure out how to make consumers comfortable enough to finish the sale via mobile alone instead of going home to do more research.

4. Consumers expect more from mobile shopping experiences than most brands deliver. There is a clear disconnect in what customers expect and what retailers are providing. More consumers than ever are using mobile devices, yet revenues are not matching the steady increase in mobile usage. The standard has not yet been set for retailers on mobile and there is an incredible and unique opportunity for a company to match consumers’ expectations and take it to the next level.

In conclusion, consumers are expecting brands to engage with them different depending on the type of mobile device they are using, and become frustrated when advertisers do not live up to their expectations, resulting in lack of sales. Advertisers need to be mindful of not creating a negative experience for their brand which can happen easily if customers are disappointed with the way they’re being communicated with. According to the white paper:

“The bar is being set even higher. The most successful multi-screen marketers will find ways to interact with individual consumers using multi-devices in sequential advertising campaigns that cross screens in interesting, compelling ways.”

Meg Rahner
Writer
Meg is the PR Coordinator for CircleClick and a writer for MobileFOMO. She is from Erie, Pennsylvania and has a BA in Public Relations from Penn State University. She moved to San Francisco shortly after graduating in 2010 and loves life on the west coast. Since moving to SF, she has contracted for the Academy of Art University's Marketing team, LinkedIn's Recruiting Team, and is excited to be pursuing her passion for writing and PR in her current roles.
Follow me on twitter @megrahner